This potato and spinach dish is what I call a dry curry – there is no liquid used in the cooking, resulting in no sauce. It’s an easy weekday, store-cupboard meal. I prefer it with fresh spinach, but frozen also works.

The original recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking, one of my all-time favourite cookbooks.

Diced potatoes with spinach
(serves 4)

5 medium waxy potatoes, diced into 1/2″ cubes

500g (1lb) fresh spinach, or 300g (about 10oz) frozen spinach

4 T vegetable oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

salt to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender, about six minutes. Drain, then spread out on paper towel to cool and dry.

If using fresh spinach, put it in a large bowl and pour a kettle-full of boiling water over it. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes, then drain. Squeeze out as much water as possible, then chop finely. If using frozen spinach, cook according to package instructions, drain and chop if necessary.

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high. Add the mustard seeds. As soon as they start popping, add the onions. Lower the heat to medium and fry until browned on the edges.

Add the garlic and fry a couple of minutes more. Now add the spinach, potatoes, garam masala and cayenne.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are heated through. Adjust the seasonings, and serve.